


prom scene

by DelenaFanGirl



Series: barchie fanfiction [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:15:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24420415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DelenaFanGirl/pseuds/DelenaFanGirl
Summary: we all want him to play this song at the prom haha..so I made it happen...
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper
Series: barchie fanfiction [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1763524
Comments: 3
Kudos: 77





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ohlittlebarchie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohlittlebarchie/gifts).



> we all want him to play this song at the prom haha..so I made it happen...

_"There's no warning_   
_When everything changes_   
_You let down your guard_   
_And I saw something strange_   
_I thought, "She's not made for this world_   
_And neither am I"_

_***_

He tried to keep smiling, he tried not to look at Betty, but it was impossible. Singing this song just reminded him of their fallout in the bunker. How she interrupted him and told him that they couldn't be together.

"I love Jughead." she insisted. It was like a stab in the heart. It had never been easy for him to see them together. Betty and Jughead. Ever since he first noticed what was going on between them, he was jealous. He felt betrayed by both of them, but mostly by Jughead. It was like he took her away from him. 

He knew that it wasn't fair to think that. Jug didn't steal her from him - he drove her away himself. He rejected her and even worse, kissed Ronnie that same night - not to mention also had an affair with the music teacher. He couldn't really blame Betty for wanting to move on.

She did everything to keep their friendship alive, even put her disappointment and feelings aside to make it work. But however hard she tried, she was still hurt after all and needed space and time. And there wasn’t much he could do about it. He gave her the time she needed, but he also felt like he was abandoning her.

He couldn't help but miss old times. When it was just him and her. The two of them against the world. So much had changed since then. They used to spent every day together for the past 10 years and it just felt like a part of him was missing. Seeing her being happy with someone else was hard, even though he hadn't completely realized his feelings at the time. Now it was even harder to watch. Knowing she chose Jughead over him.

Then she added "And you love Veronica, don't you?" Until she mentioned her, he hadn’t even thought about her to be honest and getting reminded of Ronnie also didn't really change anything. As tough as it might seem - it was the truth. It wouldn't be pretty to tell Veronica the truth - he knew that. But that was something he would have to deal with later. 

There must've been something, anything he could say to convince Betty to stay. To convince her all this was real and not some childhood fantasy. All he came up with was "Then what has this been all about?" Not the most convincing. 

It had been two weeks since then but right now, he relived every second while performing "Carry The Torch". The song he wrote for her and now had to play in front of the whole school. Somehow, all he could see was Betty. She was wearing a blue dress and looked more beautiful than ever. She had let down her hair, just like the night of the dance. The night when everything went wrong.

Their eyes met. If only he hadn't rejected her that night.

Suddenly he witnessed a change in her disposition. She looked sad. A tear was rolling down her face. 

***

_"Cause you make me  
Wanna be stronger than I am  
And maybe I'm reaching  
Misplacing and feeling  
There's no way to know but to try" _

***

Hearing that song again, she suddenly couldn't hold her emotions back anymore. For the past two weeks, she had done everything to distract herself. She helped Jug investigate the mystery of the tapes and tried to avoid Archie when possible. She even burned her diaries.

They were memories. Memories of a much younger, a different Betty. She didn't feel that way anymore. At least that was what she tried to tell herself.

She wanted to believe what Cheryl said but if her feelings for Archie weren't real, then why couldn't she stop thinking about him, the kiss and his look on the face when she ended it? 

It was the same look he had now, while performing her song. The only difference was, that he played the entire song and that he played it for Veronica. She knew the song was meant for her, that he wrote it for her but for some reason, bitterness filled her heart. How could he sing _her_ song for Veronica now?

As soon as her anger had begun, it stopped. It was replaced by a different, much sadder feeling. Sorrow. Why couldn't he have realized his feelings sooner? Why did he now decide that he wanted to be with her? And why couldn’t she, after all those years still not resist him?

From the start Jug worried that she would run back to Archie, as soon as he showed any signs of returning her feelings. He always felt threatened by him. Betty then tried to convince him that she didn't even like him like that anymore. Maybe a part of her tried to convince herself. 

Jughead had always known who her heart belonged to. Even better than herself apparently. 

She wanted to feel the same way about Jug, the way he felt about her, and the way she felt about Archie. She wanted that so bad. Of course she loved him. He'd been there for her, distracting and consoling her when Archie rejected her. He didn't deserve all this.

Luckily he wasn't here. Jughead wanted to go through some of the tapes again and prom also wasn’t the kind of event he enjoyed. 

How could she have explained her reaction to Archie’s song to him?

She saw Archie looking at her, longingly. Betty was unable to look away. The way he was looking at her, she couldn’t help but get lost in his eyes. The emotions overwhelmed her, threatened to tear her apart at the seams.

Oh god. She _could not_ start crying now. Everyone would notice.. 

Carefully, she looked at the people around her. No one was watching her. No one, except Archie. He still couldn't keep his eyes off her. 

Great. Now _he_ would see her tearing up. She couldn't take this anymore, the song, his look her emotions, everything. She had to leave.

***

_"So give me tonight_   
_I don't know much_   
_But I know this feels right_   
_So give me tonight_   
_If you carry the torch_   
_I follow the light_   
_I follow the light"_

_***_

Archie watched Betty as she left. He felt the urge to go after her but he knew he shouldn't, as much as he wanted to. Last time he played this song, he didn't have to chance to do finish. She didn't let him. Now, she couldn't stop him but instead she just left.

Did she hate him so much now, that she couldn't even listen to him sing anymore. What did he do? 

He drove her away again. They hadn’t been as close as they used to before but now they didn't even really talk to each other anymore. No text messages. No walking to school together. They've only spent time with each other when it was all four of them. 

The only reason why they didn't avoid each other completely, was to not alarm Ronnie and Jughead. 

He had to put on a show the entire time. Mostly for Betty. She didn't want to lose Jughead and as much as it killed him, he did that for her. Maybe at least she could be happy.

After everything that happened the past years, she was the one who deserved it most.

There were times he wanted to confess about their kiss and their bunker meetings to Ronnie. He hated lying to her and it was just a matter of time until she would find out but then Jughead would soon know too. So telling her the truth was not an option.

Trapped in his mind, he didn't notice he had stopped playing until someone approached him. Veronica.

"Why did you stop, Archiekins? Everyone is looking at you."

He didn't know what to say. This was a nightmare. 

Veronica followed his eyes. Betty was just exiting the room.

"It's because of her, isn't it?" Veronica questioned.

It wasn't really a question. She wasn't stupid. Veronica had suspected something between him and Betty before. There was no point denying it anymore. 

"I didn't do this to hurt you. I didn't wanna hurt anyone…" he tried to explain.

"I know." Veronica sighed, hurt overwhelming her features "You never do."

Archie felt immense guilt overtake him. He didn't want this to happen. He didn't want to do this to her. But still, he somehow ended up ruining everything - his friendship with Betty, his relationship with Veronica and sooner rather than later, Jug would never want to talk to him again.

No one would miss him once he'd left Riverdale for good. Joining the navy was probably the best decision he’d made recently.

  
  



	2. after leaving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this takes part after Betty ran out of the gym because Archie was singing "Carry The Torch" - Kevin confronts her

Betty had tried to hold her tears back from the beginning of Archie’s performance, to the point where it was impossible not to break down sobbing

She had just left the gym, when she noticed someone was running after her. Could this be Archie?

Betty slowly turned around, trying to wipe her tears away. But it wasn’t Archie. It was Kevin.

Of course Archie hadn’t run after her. Why would he?

"So what was that back in there?" Kevin asked.

"What do you mean?" Betty pretended she didn't know what he was talking about.

"Archie staring at you the whole time while singing, tears were rolling down your face and you suddenly leaving. Oh, come on Betty…" 

"Okay, okay Kev, you're right." Betty admitted.

"I knew it…so what happened?" Kevin demanded.

"We kissed, okay…"

"You kissed?!" Kevin screamed. "Shhh…please keep your voice down. It didn't mean anything. We're best friends, we always have been and we always will be. Nothing more."

"Wrong, Betty. I'm your best friend. You've been crushing on him since forever. It was just a matter of time until…"

Betty interrupted him again. "No, Kev. You've got it all wrong. It didn't mean anything…"

"So you’ve told Jughead?" 

"Not yet…but I will, I'm gonna tell him soon, I just have to find the right moment to do it, I…"

"That's a bullshit excuse, Betty. If the kiss didn't mean anything, then why haven’t you told him yet? You didn't tell him last time when you kissed Archie in the car and you haven’t told him now." 

"What does this have to do with any of this?" Betty asked. 

"It has everything to do with this….You..." he paused. "Archie…you both would do anything to convince yourselves there's nothing there…"

"Yeah, Kev, because there isn't," Betty couldn't take this anymore. She knew exactly what Kevin was saying but she didn't want to admit it.

She couldn't admit to herself what she had always known. What she had always feared.

"I'm with Jughead. I love Jughead and Archie, he loves Veronica. It's the way it's supposed to be." Betty insisted.

"Then why, Betty, did you kiss Archie? Why did he kiss you?" 

"Because it was just a dream, it wasn't real."

"It wasn't real? Oh, come on, betty. Since I've known you, both of you, you could never shut up about him. Archie this, Archie that. You've been in love with him almost your entire life. You know each other better than anyone. No matter how hard you try to hide it or to push them down, your feelings for Archie are still there and they won't be going away anytime soon."

Betty bit her lip and looked at her feet. She didn't want to listen to Kevin but deep down she knew that he was absolutely right. She was so sick of all this. She had tried to forget him, forget Archie, but it was impossible. She'd always come to the point where she'd rethink everything that happened. She had replayed their kiss hundreds of times, their first meeting in the bunker.

"Archie, why are we here?" she had asked him. It was a foolish question considering she had texted him about an hour ago herself - but he actually came and now she started feeling guilty again.

Archie had answered. "I don't know….but it's nice, right?" 

Nice. Yeah, it had been very, very nice… Oh, how badly she wished things could be different. How much she wished she could just  _ give in _ to her desires. It was killing her, laying so close to him. She wanted to kiss him and…

The tone of his voice gave away that he was thinking about it, too. She could feel his pinky softly touching her hand and her hand slowly interlocking with his. What were they doing here? Oh my god. What on earth was she doing here with Archie? It felt so right…

"Betty?" Kevin had come a little closer. “Are you still listening to me?” 

“Yeah, Kevin. I’m still listening to you.”

__

Kevin took her by the shoulders and shook her. “You’re in love with him, Betty. Everyone can see that. Why can’t you?” 

Betty sighed again. “So what am I supposed to do now, then?”

**Author's Note:**

> So this was my second fanfiction..I hope you liked it haha..trying my best even if it's not my native langue and I don't know anything about writing...


End file.
